Genoa-debating a future

THE MASS anti-capitalist protests in Genoa changed people. It became a beacon for all those fighting the system-not just those who were there but across the world.

Across 124 countries, from Buenos Aires to Stockholm, protesters assembled in solidarity in the days after to protest at the horror of the police repression which killed Carlo Giuliani.

The impact of the 300,000-strong demonstration is still being felt. It has transformed the Italian left and inflicted a massive wound to the men of the G8 group of richest countries, who hid behind the miles of fences. Tom Behan's assessment of Genoa in the latest International Socialism journal underlines that impact, as does an account by Russian socialist Boris Kagarlitsky.

They assess the debates in the anti-capitalist movement that emerged in the days after Genoa. So does an article by Alex Callinicos which is a critical look at the main thinker behind the significant Italian autonomist movement, Antonio Negri.

The last time police repression was used to tame the powerful Italian left was in the 1970s. The movement was split and disarmed for 20 years, with many activists turning away from mass mobilisation. Now a new generation is emerging that does not remember defeat, but can learn the lessons from it.

The articles in this journal can help everyone to do that.

Other articles look at Italy in the 1970s, women and globalisation, and the murder of the left wing leader of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, in the 1960s.

You can get a copy from your Socialist Worker seller or from International Socialism, price £3. Phone 020 7538 5821.

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